Samuel L. Jackson has blasted Barack Obama for 'promoting mediocrity' in the United States by 'dumbing down' the way he speaks to ordinary Americans.

In an expletive-filled tirade about - of all things - grammar, Jackson told the President to 'be f*****g presidential.'

The Holywood legend, who publicly backed Obama in 2008 and 2012, questioned why the Harvard-educated former law professor chooses to drop the letter 'g' from the end of his words.

In an astonishing rant, Jackson, 64, said that the President was trying too hard to 'relate' to normal people instead of being true to who he really is.

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Rant: Samuel L Jackson, left, blasted Obama, right, for dumbing down the way he speaks in a bid to 'relate' to ordinary people

Edition: Jackson was talking in an interview in October's of Playboy magazine (stock picture used)

Obama, who went to Ivy League
universities Columbia and Harvard and taught at the rarefied University of
Chicago, has been criticized in the past for being elitist and for not
understanding average Americans.

Jackson's attack has been described by some as 'ironic' after the Pulp Fiction star agreed to appear in a video called 'Wake the f**k up. Vote for Obama' during the last election.

Speaking in an interview with Playboy magazine,
the actor questioned the president's reasons for changing his speech,
saying: 'First of all, we know it ain’t because of his blackness, so I
say stop trying to "relate."

'Be
a leader. Be f******g presidential. Look, I grew up in a society where I
could say “It ain’t” or “What it be” to my friends.

'But when I’m out presenting myself to the world as me, who graduated from college, who had family who cared about me, who has a well-read background, I f*****g conjugate'.

Jackson, himself a university graduate, having studied acting at Morehouse College, Atlanta, said he gets annoyed when high profile figures try to talk in 'street language' to appear more down-to-Earth.

He continued his rant by saying educated men like the president who actively try to speak less correctly encourage mediocrity.

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He said: 'The other day I’m watching this white guy talking to black people on TV, and all of a sudden he’s saying stuff like “Pump your brakes” and “I got you,” these new politically cool terms that kind of came out of hip-hop and blackness.

'I’m thinking, We do still speak English, right? Though sometimes I wonder. So yeah, it still happens. But the whole language and culture are different now.

'I’ll be reading scripts and the screenwriter mistakes “your” for “you’re.” On Twitter someone will write, “Your an idiot,” and I’ll go, “No, you’re an idiot,” and all my Twitterphiles will go, “Hey, Sam Jackson, he’s the grammar police.”